Maggie turned the knob and pushed open the door to her grandmother's room. "Gramma! I'm here! An' I bringed my baby to see you!"

Frances got up from her chair and held her arms out to the little girl. Maggie ran to her and hugged her as she said, "I missed you, precious."

"I missed you, too, Gramma." She twisted in her grandmother's arms. "C'mon, Daddy! Gramma wants to see Tommy."

He laughed as he came through the doorway. "I'm coming."

Alex kissed Frances' cheek and held her arms out to Maggie, who jumped into her embrace. Frances approached her son as he lowered the little bundle in his arms for her. She took the baby. "Will you look at him?" she said quietly. "All soft and sweet. How old is he now?"

"Three months."

"Thank you for not waiting until he was three years to bring him to see me, son."

Goren knew it was useless to argue or explain, so all he said was, "You're welcome, Mom."

He glanced at Alex, who met his eyes. He shrugged, and she smiled at him and hugged Maggie. When Frances carried the baby across the room and sat down in her chair near the window, Alex set Maggie down so she could join them. Bobby came up behind her and slid his arms around her. She relaxed against him as they watched their children interact with his mother, making her laugh and smile.

Having no sense of regular mealtime scheduling, Tommy decided it was lunchtime before the dining room was ready to accomodate the rest of the building. Eames looked around the room. "Diaper bag?"

Goren's gaze followed the course hers had taken around the room. "Don't look at me. I had the baby."

"Ergo, you should have had the diaper bag."

He raised his eyebrows at her, but his only comment was "I'll go get it."

"No, you visit with your mother. I'll go get it."

Maggie turned toward her. "Can I come, too, Mommy?"

"I'm just going out to the car, but if you want to..."

The little girl bounced off the bed and hurried to join her mother. "We'll be right back!" she announced to the rest of the room.

Frances smiled after they were gone and looked at her son. "You made a very good choice, Bobby. I like Alex. She's so much better than that Miffy or Ditzy or whoever it was you dated when you were a sophomore in high school."

"Her name was Mitzie, Mom."

"Well, at least Alex has a brain."

At fifteen, brains had not been a big consideration for him. In his wife, however, brains were a must, and Alex was more than able to keep up with him. He smiled at his mother. "I think Alex is just right for me."

She smiled broadly. "I agree. It's good to see you happy. You have yourself a beautiful family." She kissed Tommy's soft head. "He has his mother's hair, but your features. They are both a beautiful blend of you and their mother."

"Thank you, Mom. As long as they're happy..."

"They are. Anyone can see it, simply by looking at them. You are a wonderful father, son...so much better than your father was to you."

He tensed, but struggled to keep her from noticing. Keeping his voice casual, he said, "I hope they never see me the way I saw him."

She shook her head. "There's not a cruel bone in your body. You will never be anything like he was. You have a good heart, Bobby. He had no heart at all."

That was a lesson he'd learned from cruel experience. He sighed softly. "He did teach me one thing, though."

Frances frowned. "What was that?"

"He taught me what kind of man and what kind of father not to be."

Her face relaxed into a smile. "A lesson you learned very well if these children are any indication." She lightly stroked the baby's cheek. "You should be proud."

The door banged open and Maggie bounced back into the room, running at her father and jumping into his arms as Alex handed the baby's bottle to Frances. He kissed the side of Maggie's head and answered, "Yes. I'm very proud."

He watched Alex sit lightly on the bed, laughing with Frances, probably at something else she'd said about him as a boy. He gently set Maggie down and leaned his shoulder against the wall as she climbed into her mother's lap to supervise the feeding of her baby. There was every reason in the world for him to be proud of his little family. They were content and, most of all, they were happy. And his mother was right: he was happy, too.